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We depend on you, our members and supporters, to suggest potential candidates to join our Board of Directors.

Our board members help MACC succeed. Board members are expected to donate their time and expertise and assist MACC financially. We ask candidates to consider carefully if they can make the time commitment necessary for board participation: five board meetings, five committee meetings, and time outside those meetings.

Interested and recommended candidates should submit a letter of interest and a resume so MACC's Nominating Committee can evaluate the potential nominee's qualifications.

Send suggestions for board candidates by email to staff@maccweb.org with the subject line Board nomination, or by mail to Nominating Committee, 10 Juniper Rd., Belmont, MA 02478. Please do so by September 30 for the candidate to be considered for nomination at MACC's Annual Meeting in February/March.

For questions please call our office at 617-489-3930 or email us at staff@maccweb.org.

OUR Office Team

Eugene B. Benson is delighted to be Executive Director of MACC, where he is responsible for leading MACC to achieve its mission and meet its financial objectives. Before joining MACC in 2013, Eugene was Legal Counsel at Alternatives for Community & Environment. He is an adjunct faculty member at the Boston University Metropolitan College Graduate Program in City Planning and Urban Affairs and the B.U. School of Public Health. He has co-chaired the Boston Bar Association Environmental Law Section and the section's Water Quality Committee and Public Service Committee. He has been chair of the board of The Food Project and the Mystic River Watershed Association and currently chair of the board of GreenRoots and a member of his town's redevelopment board. He has been a Wasserstein Public Interest Fellow at Harvard Law School and a Givelber Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Public Interest Law at Northeastern University Law School. When not working or teaching he can often be found during waking hours at theaters, museums, concerts, on a bike, tending to his yard, or walking the great outdoors.

Michèle Girard is MACC's Associate Director and Education Coordinator and has been with the organization for over 10 years. At MACC she supports the Executive Director with the Board's general business and special projects, helps develop training programs and workshops, and organizes educational programs and conferences. Prior to joining the MACC staff, Michèle served as a conservation commissioner in her town and worked as the Assistant Conservation Administrator for the Town of Boxford. She also served a three-year term as a MACC Director. Michèle volunteers as an overseer for the New England Wild Flower Society and organizes programs for her local land trust. In her spare time she enjoys "botanizing" in fields and forests, hiking, and gardening.

Lindsay Martucci has been serving as Member Services Coordinator, Newsletter Editor and Office Manager at MACC since 1998. While working at MACC and becoming involved in the Fundamentals for Conservation Commissioners training program, she joined the Plainville Conservation Commission where she served for six years, two of them as Chair. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, hiking and most especially playing the drums. She plays at a blues jam every week and has been seen sitting in for the drummer in a couple of bands.

Candace Domos works for us part time as our Finance and Operations Manager

OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Officers

Jennifer Carlino, President (Mendon)

Jennifer Carlino has served as the Conservation Director for the Town of Norton since 1999, where she runs the Open Space Committee and is Vice-Chair of the Canoe River Aquifer Advisory Committee. She is also the President of the Massachusetts Society of Municipal Conservation Professionals and a former Secretary for Association of Massachusetts Wetland Professionals. Vernal pools and wildlife are her particular interests. In her spare time she can be found rock climbing, hiking, and mountain biking.

Michael Howard, PWS, CWS, First Vice President (Princeton)

Mr. Howard is a Principal and Manager of the Ecological Sciences group at Epsilon Associates, Inc. (an environmental consulting and engineering firm) with extensive experience in environmental permitting and regulatory analysis. He is registered as a Professional Wetland Scientist by the Society of Wetland Scientists and is a licensed Certified Wetland Scientist in the State of New Hampshire. He is President of the Association of Massachusetts Wetland Scientists. He is a frequent instructor of MACC's "BVW Delineation for Beginners" workshop and units in MACC's Fundamentals for Conservation Commissioners certificate training program. Mr. Howard has served as Vice Chairman of the Princeton Conservation Commission and was the Conservation Agent in the Town of North Andover. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Pamela Harvey, Esq., Vice President for Advocacy (Brookline)

Pamela D. Harvey is an environmental lawyer and served in several positions at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) from 1991 to 2015. She drafted the regulations to implement the Rivers Protection Act in 1996-1997 while serving as the Director of the Wetlands and Waterways Program. From 2007 to 2015, after several years advising DEP Commissioners on final decisions, Pam was designated a presiding officer to conduct adjudicatory hearings, many involving wetlands protection. Pam was appointed as a full member of the Brookline Conservation Commission in 2016, after serving as an associate member for three terms. She joined the MACC Board of Directors in March 2016. In addition to her work with MACC, Pam continues to chair programs and lecture on environmental law, and engages in various pro bono environmental activities.

Matthew Schweisberg, PWS, Vice President for Education (Merrimac)

Matt Schweisberg is the principal of Wetland Strategies and Solutions, LLC, where he provides assistance to clients seeking to navigate a wide range of regulatory and non-regulatory issues related to wetlands and other aquatic resources. Matt is a Professional Wetland Scientist under the Professional Certification Program of the Society of Wetland Scientists. He is a retired federal wetlands ecologist and wildlife biologist who spent over 32 years with the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. He has served several times as an expert witness in federal, state, and private litigation. He co-instructs a one-week intensive course on wetland identification and delineation at the Eagle Hill Institute in Maine, and has taught courses in wetland regulation, restoration and creation, wetland ecology, and wetland identification and delineation for federal and state agencies, academic organizations, and environmental consultants. Matt is well versed in all aspects of alternative dispute resolution. He received his degree in Wildlife Management from the University of Maine.

Cynthia B. O'Connell, RLA, ASLA, Secretary (Sharon)

Cynthia is a registered Landscape Architect, currently serving as the Conservation Agent for the Town of Canton. In that role, she administers the Massachusetts Wetland Protection Act as well as three local by-laws related to wetland protection, soil erosion and sediment control and stormwater management. In addition to her work in the public sector, she has over twenty-five years of private sector experience designing and permitting private development projects. Cynthia also serves on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Society of Municipal Conservation Professionals. She graduated with a B.A. in Fine Art from Dickinson College and a Masters of Landscape Architecture from the University of Massachusetts.

John J. Goldrosen, Esq., Treasurer (Whitman)

John Goldrosen practiced as an attorney with KP Law from 2002 until 2016. Previously, he was an attorney at Choate Hall Stewart and served as a Supreme Judicial Court law clerk. His practice has focused on assisting municipalities with land use development, real estate, and environmental issues, as well as general municipal practice. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College, and holds a Master of Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina. He is also a member of the Executive Board of the Massachusetts Municipal Lawyers Association and is chairman of the Town of Whitman Zoning Board of Appeals. Prior to obtaining his law degree, Mr. Goldrosen worked as an environmental planner, owned and operated a retail business, and wrote a biography of rock'n'roll pioneer Buddy Holly that served as the basis for the movie "The Buddy Holly Story."

Directors

Amy M. Ball, PWS, CWS (Sandwich)

Amy Ball is a Senior Ecologist and Project Manager with the Horsley Witten Group, based out of Sandwich, MA, where she also resides. Her expertise is in wetland science, ecology, and permitting. Amy joined the MACC Board in 2006, served as MACC's Vice President for Education for two three-year terms, and has presented several workshops on botany at MACC's Annual Environmental Conference.

Marc Bergeron, PWS, CWS (Blackstone)

Marc Bergeron is the Director of Energy Services (Massachusetts) and a Principal at VHB, Inc., an environmental consulting and engineering firm. He has 22 years of professional experience in providing environmental consulting services; specializing in wetland delineation, assessment, mitigation, ecological inventories, wildlife habitat assessment, vernal pool ecology, and permitting. Mr. Bergeron is a certified Professional Wetland Scientist by the Society of Wetland Scientists and a Certified Wetland Scientist in the State of New Hampshire. Mr. Bergeron was a member of the Town of Blackstone Conservation Commission from 2005-2008 and served as Chair for a one year period during that tenure.

Sandra Brock, P.E., CFM, LEED AP BD+C (Grafton)

Sandra Brock is the Chief Engineer at Nitsch Engineering, a certified WMBE, where she specializes in stormwater management and sustainable site design. She has over 30 years of experience in civil engineering, is a licensed Professional Engineer, LEED accredited Professional, Title V System Inspector, Certified Floodplain Manager, and Certified Soil Evaluator. In addition to her work for private developers and institutions, Sandy has provided expert witness testimony for civil engineering cases and peer reviews of proposed projects for numerous boards and commissions throughout Massachusetts. Sandy graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and spent two years designing and constructing rural water supplies in Malawi, Africa, for the Peace Corps. She is the Chair of the Grafton Conservation Commission and has presented workshops on stormwater management at Annual Environmental Conference and elsewhere.

Kathleen E. (Kate) Connolly, Esq. (Hopkinton)

Kate Connolly is a Principal with Louison, Costello, Condon and Pfaff where she practices general municipal law and litigation focusing on land use, zoning and conservation. She is town counsel and special counsel to multiple municipalities and represents private clients as well. Kate served on the DCR Forestry Task Force and was an author of the revised EOEEA Model Conservation Restriction. She is a frequent speaker on topics of conservation and environmental law, frequently publishes articles in the MACC Conservation Quarterly, and is recent past MACC President.

Lee Curtis (Ayer)

Ms. Curtis is a Senior Associate and Manager of Ecological & GIS Services in BSC's Worcester, MA office. Her background is in Wildlife Conservation, Wetland Conservation, and Field Botany. She is a Certified Erosion Sediment and Stormwater Inspector (CESSWI). Her primary job responsibilities include assisting clients with complex environmental permitting issues on the federal, state, and local levels, with a focus on linear permitting. She is especially knowledgeable of the wetland and protected species regulatory review process in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire and has provided permitting and technical support to projects in Connecticut. Field assignments that she plays a major role in include rare wildlife and botanical surveys for protected species, wetland delineations and evaluation, vegetation community mapping, vernal pool characterization, wildlife habitat assessments, and invasive species control and monitoring plans. Other responsibilities include managing the environmental compliance portion of large linear construction projects, specifically overhead and underground transmission lines, and the development of Construction and Industrial Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans. She has served on her local Conservation Commission and Stormwater Committee.

Greg Hochmuth, RS, PWS, CWS (Merrimac)

Greg is an environmental consultant at Williams & Sparages LLC. He has over 20 years of experience in wetland ecology, wetland replication, wildlife biology, soil evaluation and environmental regulatory analysis. He has done peer reviews for conservation commissions and has extensive experience in wetland delineation and functional assessments utilizing both federal and state methodologies. Greg is a registered sanitarian and certified soil evaluator in the State of Massachusetts, a registered professional wetland scientist and a certified wetland scientist and licensed sanitary disposal system designer in the State of New Hampshire. He is on the Town of Merrimac Conservation Commission and is a graduate of Westfield State University with a bachelor's of science in biology, with a minor in chemistry and regional planning.

Scott Jackson (Whately)

Scott Jackson is Extension Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Conservation at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He teaches courses and workshops on wildlife conservation and wetlands ecology, assessment and conservation. Significant integrated research/extension projects include the Conservation Assessment and Prioritization System (CAPS), North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative (NAACC), MA Wildlife Climate Action Tool, and the MA Wetlands Assessment and Monitoring Program. Scott is chair of the Whately Conservation Commission and is vice chair of the Kestrel Land Trust Board of Trustees.

Rebekah Lacey, Esq. (Charlestown)

Rebekah is an attorney with Miyares and Harrington LLP in Wellesley. She represents public and private sector clients on a wide range of local, state and federal environmental and land use law issues, including wetlands permitting, appeals, and enforcement. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School. Before law school, Rebekah worked as an environmental scientist, experience she draws on when legal and technical issues intersect.

Gregor I. McGregor, Esq. (Concord)

Greg is an environmental attorney whose Boston law firm, McGregor & Legere, PC, handles environmental law, land use, real estate, and litigation. His court cases, including several for MACC as amicus, have created precedents on municipal Home Rule powers, wetland and floodplain protection, land preservation and taxation, law enforcement, MEPA and EIRs, Article 97 and other open space protections, and the law of Regulatory Takings. Before 1975, Greg was an Assistant Attorney General and first chief of the MA Attorney General's Division of Environmental Protection. For 18 years he was a member or chair of the Wellesley NRC and has been president of MACC twice. He graduated from Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School.

Paul McManus, LSP, PWS (Holden)

Paul is the founder and President of EcoTec, Inc. in Worcester, where he provides wetland, wildlife, and erosion control consulting services to public and private clients, including Conservation Commissions. He also conducts ecological risk evaluations at sites where contamination has impacted wetlands. Paul is a graduate of the College of the Holy Cross, received a Master of Science in ecology from U.Mass Boston, and serves on the boards of the New England Chapter of the Society of Wetland Scientists and his local land trust. He lives in Holden and in his free time can be found with his family outdoors there and in the White Mountains.

Nick Nelson (Cambridge)

Nick Nelson is a fluvial geomorphologist and regional director for Inter-Fluve, a river and wetland restoration firm. Nick has conducted geomorphic assessments on over 250 river miles and has been involved in dozens of river restoration and dam removal projects throughout MA and the country. Nick has taught at the University of MN, currently teaches at Northeastern University and at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design, and is a technical advisor for the MA Fluvial Geomorphology Erosion Hazard Task Force. Nick has a BA in geology from Williams College and an MS in fluvial geomorphology from Utah State University.

E. Heidi Ricci (Shirley)

Heidi is a Senior Policy Analyst at Mass Audubon, with decades of experience in environmental policy and land use management. She directs the Shaping the Future of Your Community program, which assists communities with sustainable development and targeted conservation to support resiliency for people and nature. She is an Associate Member and past chair of the Shirley Conservation Commission, chairs the Devens Open Space and Recreation Advisory Committee and is a member of the Shirley Open Space and Recreation Advisory Committee and Nashua River Wild and Scenic Study Committee. Ms. Ricci also serves on the Board of Directors of MassRivers and is an Advisor to Citizen Planner Training Collaborative. Member of SWS and AMWS.

Jennifer Steel (Wayland)

Jennifer Steel is a graduate of Wesleyan University and Duke University. She has worked as a teacher, on large regional marine research programs, in environmental advocacy, and as a consultant. Jennifer has been a Conservation Agent for the towns of Maynard, Framingham, and Uxbridge. She is currently the Senior Environmental Planner for the City of Newton.

Margaret (Peg) Stolfa, Esq., (Franklin)

Margaret "Peg" R. Stolfa is an environmental attorney at Gordon & Rees, representing clients in compliance and strategic permitting, enforcement defense and administrative and civil litigation. Her practice includes wetlands compliance, land use litigation, environmental due diligence, as well as brownfields redevelopment and sustainability considerations in the context of complex real estate transactions and related litigation support.

Janice Stone, (Shutesbury)

Janice has been serving as Administrator and staff for two Conservation Commissions (South Hadley and Hadley) since 2004. A certified Professional Wetland Scientist, she has over 30 years experience mapping wetlands for state & federal agencies, and other environmental groups. Her M.S. thesis in Wildlife Biology was on identification and certification of vernal pools. Janice lives in Shutesbury where she served 5 years on the Conservation Commission (3 as Chair), and over 15 years on their Open Space Committee. She has served on the MACC Board of Directors since 2011. Hobbies include wildflower & fern identification, gardening and photography.